By Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky ; Fyodor Dostoyevsky ; Richard Pevear ; Larissa Volokhonsky ; Richard Pevear ( Author ) [ Idiot [With Ribbon Book Mark] Everyman's Library Classics & Contemporary Classics By Apr-2002 Hardcover

Well, who am I to review this classic work of Russian Literature? It seems wrong, like criticising Moe Farrow's running style when one is unable to cover a hundred yards in less than 5 minutes. However, I have invested time and effort in reading it and therefore I feel I can voice my lowly opinion. The title refers t Prince Myshkin, a poor man (despite his title) who returns home to St Petersburg after several years Switzerland being treated for epilepsy in a 19th century way. Through a distant relation he becomes involved in the social life of St Petersburg and is shocked and amazed at the behaviour of people who now would be in the pages of Hello magazine. He soon inherits a fortune and is drawn into this world of parties and bad relationships.This background was devised to show the prince as an almost saintly person, with a simplicity that could be easily exploited for money (the idiot of the title.) In reality his B grade celebrities find him to be far wiser then they think and become disarmed by his saintliness and simplicity.The Russians of the book behave in an exhausting emotional way, whether or not someone likes or loves you is of great importance and there are many scenes of great drama — to relate them would be a spoiler. A small item of interest is that the Russian characters found that the houses in Europe to be very cold, having their townhouses heated to withstand the St Petersburg winters. Nothing is perfect and I would say that the ending could have been tidier, including the various love affairs, but the bottom line is that this book deserves to be part of great European literature because it gives an insight into the way people interact generally, and most particularly in 19th century St Petersburg.

This translation is horrific. It is like reading the Daily Mail version of The Idiot. The wording is far too modern and completely removes the sense of times gone by. They repeat the same words constantly, such as the word 'physiognomy' in a poor attempt to salvage some sense of intelligent input. I am so utterly disappointed with this translation, it genuinely feels like they have taken away everything good about this beautiful, carefully written piece of literature.